Indeed, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The prevailing view seemed to be a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). But this time, it's different. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but framed of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan has become the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and delivering the periodic peculiar declaration. ("I love spinach!" … "A tradition has to have a beginning." … "A tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.") She's quite a personality, but her aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent exactly what Yuletide is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the life she leads appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with style. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the intensity of examination she has endured from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to change or even moderate her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a reminder that will certainly come as a comfort: you don't have to. We don't have the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a everyday person, no kid completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a candy.
